


We Gather Together

by Moriavis



Series: Finding ways to come together [16]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Established Relationship, Iris is awesome and she knows it, Len is an an unrepentant criminal, M/M, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 08:10:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9114472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moriavis/pseuds/Moriavis
Summary: Barry has a lot to be thankful for this year.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'ed, as usual, by the lovely saekhwa.
> 
> Here we go with Thanksgiving! I'm on target to be caught up on this series by New Year's, so I'm super excited!

~*~

Iris looked between the plate of deviled eggs and Barry before she scowled, gesturing at him with the pastry bag. Barry looked back at her innocently, still chewing on the stolen deviled egg, a grin pulling at the corner of his mouth.

"Seriously?" She asked. "Wally's got better manners than you do."

Joe laughed and opened the oven, basting the turkey again. "You know better, Barr. You start harassing each other, your kitchen privileges get revoked."

"Sorry." Barry hunched his shoulders and glanced at Iris again. "Are you sure you don't need any help? I can get this stuff done so fast—"

"For the third time, no," Iris insisted. "I've got this." Barry opened his mouth again, and Iris narrowed her eyes like she was just waiting for him to give her a reason.

Joe took Barry by the shoulders and steered him toward the living room. "Turn on the TV and tell me who's winning the game."

"Ugh."

"Your mouth says 'ugh' but you're _really_ telling me, 'sure, Joe. I don't mind.'"

Barry rolled his eyes, smiling despite himself, and reached for the remote control, dropping it when he heard a knock at the door. "I'll get it!" He darted over and opened the door, grinning when he saw Cisco, who was balancing two casserole dishes in his hands. 

"I bring food from Casa de Ramon!"

"You didn't have to bring anything." Barry took the containers from Cisco's hands and dropped them off in the kitchen, taking the opportunity to zip around for the eighth and check to see if Joe was finished cooking.

"Of course I did," Cisco was saying when Barry finally slowed down and got out of Joe's way. "My mama didn't raise a freeloader." He threw himself down on the sofa and propped his feet up on the coffee table. "Besides, you haven't lived if you haven't tried my pumpkin tacos."

"That sounds great." Iris came out of the kitchen with a platter of deviled eggs, and Cisco sat straight, dropping his feet to the floor before he helped himself to one. He popped it into his mouth and slouched back against the couch.

Barry's phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out to check the screen, seeing a text from Caitlin. "ETA on Caitlin is 30 minutes or so. She's bringing a pie?"

"Great. Everything's going perfect." Iris wiped her hands on her jeans and walked past Barry, patting his chest. "Come here for a sec."

Barry obediently followed her into the other room and quirked his eyebrow at her. "What's up?"

Iris grinned and leaned closer. "What's up is I'm covering for you. You've got half an hour to go find your boyfriend. I know I'm awesome. You don't have to say anything."

"I—what?" Barry slid his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "I mean, I don't even know if he celebrates—"

Iris pressed her hands to Barry's shoulder and shoved him affectionately. "I don't care where you go, okay? You're driving me and Dad up the wall and it'll be easier for all of us if you got some air."

Barry laughed. "I get it. Thanks." He kissed Iris' temple and then sped out of the house, stopping at the corner to dig his phone out of his pocket again. _What are you doing?_

He tapped his foot, looking up and down the deserted street before he looked at his watch, counting the minutes. Finally, Len responded. _Shouldn't you be with your family?_

 _I have 24 min free,_ Barry responded. _and then I'm going into a food coma._ Another three minutes passed without a response, and Barry sighed. _20 now. You're killing me, Len. Are you busy or not?_

 _Southwest Bank._

Once the response came, _finally_ , Barry checked to see if anyone was around before he zipped forward, the world blurring around him. There were two branches of Southwest Bank, so he stopped by both of them, skidding on the street when he spotted Len. He slid to a walk by Len's side. Len didn't even jump, sliding a look at Barry from the corner of his eye. The jerk. 

"Surprised to see you. Thought you'd be watching football like everyone else."

"You're not." Barry arched his eyebrow—he wasn't entirely sure how well his suspicious look worked on Len, because Len just smirked and pushed his sunglasses up his nose.

"I don't like football, Barry." Len slid his arm around Barry's waist and smeared a kiss against his jaw. 

"You don't celebrate Thanksgiving?" Barry asked as they walked across the street. He wasn't quite sure where Len was going, but he figured that Len would tell him if it was a problem.

Len shrugged. "I'm not much for celebrating genocidal colonialism."

"Wow. Okay. You wanna tell me what you were doing at a bank during a holiday?"

Len laughed, tilting down his sunglasses just so he could give Barry another look. "Not particularly."

Barry snorted and leaned against Len's side hard enough to make Len stagger before he caught his balance. "You could tell me something you're thankful for. That's what we always do at home."

Len smirked. "I'm thankful that banks are closed on national holidays. Fewer security guards."

Barry sighed and shook his head. "I knew it. What happened to not being a criminal anymore?"

"I believe the terms of our arrangement included no killing," Len corrected. He snorted and kissed Barry again. "But I'm proud of you for trying to sneak that in."

"I'll get you one of these days," Barry said, pulling away to get another look at Len. What should have been happening at that moment was Barry taking Len home, where they could eat together and Len and Joe could argue about their stupid old music and Cisco could flirt with Lisa to her heart's content. Instead, he was hiding things just so he could see his boyfriend for five minutes. It sucked.

Len stopped walking and faced Barry, cupping Barry's face in his hands. "You've already got me, Red. Quit beating yourself up and go eat yourself into a coma. You deserve it."

Barry's face prickled from the warmth of Len's hands, a pleasant sensation that rippled over his scalp. "You need to relax too, you know. Just because you're not with the Legends right now doesn't mean you need to keep yourself busy."

"Right," Len said dryly. "The Flash is telling me to keep it cool."

"When you say it that way, it sounds hypocritical," Barry teased.

"If the shoe fits…" Len smirked and dropped his hands from Barry's face, leaving Barry a little sad. Barry made an unhappy sound and burrowed against Len, curling his hands beneath Len's jacket. Len curled a hand around Barry's nape and squeezed. "Go home. Enjoy yourself. Save me some cranberry sauce."

"You got it." Barry smiled, because he couldn't not smile. "I'll see you later." 

He stood there for just a second longer as he began to harness the Speed Force. Len had a small, private smile on his face, his eyelashes lowered in the middle of a blink, and Barry took the long, long look he'd grown accustomed to before he turned around and sped back home.

He beat Caitlin by five minutes.

~*~

**Author's Note:**

> Come see me on [tumblr](http://www.moriavis.tumblr.com) or [Dreamwidth](http://www.lunesque.dreamwidth.org)! ♥


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